


the last children of gallifrey

by sparrowvanya



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks, although it wasnt canon divergent when i wrote it, although you really dont have to squint too hard, no i dont care anymore, thoschei if you squint, yes there is way too much lore in this, yes this was the result of way too long on the wiki
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:21:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23532256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sparrowvanya/pseuds/sparrowvanya
Summary: The Doctor needs answers.The Master has them.And she knows exactly where he is.
Relationships: Thirteenth Doctor & The Master (Dhawan)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 33





	the last children of gallifrey

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this mid-january, meant to post it then but just... didn't for some reason. reread it recently and here it is now  
> no editing we die like men

“ _Now why would I ever want to make it easy for you? It wasn’t for me,_ ” the holographic Master snarls in the face of the Doctor, looking for all the world as if he was actually standing on the steps of the TARDIS, except for the fact that he was blue.

His image turns as if to vanish, and then he abruptly turns back, face showing in profile, just a hint of a smirk on his face and an unreadable emotion dancing in his eyes.

“Come find me. And maybe then you’ll find out.”

And his image disappears.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She knows exactly where he is. Of course she does, she was the one who put him there.

The realm of the Kasaavin is difficult, if not impossible, to locate if you don’t know the way. Which the Doctor does, of course. He’d put her there first, and she’d only returned the favor.

It‘s easier to think of it like that, at least. Easier than what it really was.

Revenge.

Revenge for what he’d done to her and to her fam and to the people on Earth and the entirety of Gallifrey too, although she hadn’t even known that yet. 

It was easier for her to simplify things. Because, if it was revenge, it would need to be revenge for something. And that would mean re-accepting the past she’d been denying for the entirety of her current regeneration.

So, she was simply returning the favor.

The TARDIS’ lighting, having settled to a deep blue after her little trip back home, flares brighter momentarily, catching the Doctor’s attention. Lifting her head off her knees, she notices they’ve landed.

Huh. She hadn’t even noticed their movement.

This must be the Kasaavin, then. She’d arrived.

While she was steeling herself to leave the TARDIS and walk outside, back into that eerily quiet forest of vines, the door flings itself open.

 _Huh. Unlocked._ She’d have to work on that if she wasn’t going to carry a key around anymore.

He’s silhouetted in the doorway, his hands in his pockets, and she knows, even without a clear view of his face, that the Master is smiling.

He steps into the light, and yeah, she was right. A smirk lays on his face like a slash from a knife. Or a sword.

The Master speaks, breaking the calm illusion of his face. “Knew you’d come. You always do.” The smirk stays, but his eyes betray his true thoughts.

They’re dark, dead. Dead like hers had been when she’d worked up the will to look in the mirror for the first time after the Time War.

“No you didn’t,” she says, and even to her own ears she sounds furious. She is, of course. The sound of her own heartbeats ー _his sound, his drums_ ー is pounding in her ears, and is there a single being in the universe that wouldn’t be angry after what he’s done? 

She can feel his consciousness across the room. It’s stormy, a sea roiling beneath a hurricane. And they call her the Oncoming Storm.

The Master chuckles ー a deep, sharp sound that’s a little too broken for her liking. “And what made you think that?”

“I know you too well. Say, what exactly is it that prompted you to _destroy our home and everyone else living there?_ ” She’s probably pushing too far too quickly, but she doesn’t care. Her head won’t shut up, constantly replaying every moment since the plane, trying to figure out _why._ All she wants is answers.

His chuckles have progressed into full-blown laughter. “Oh, Doctor,” he says, wiping a faux tear from his eye. Even from where she’s standing, hands braced on the TARDIS’ console, the Doctor can tell he’s acting. “Haven’t you figured it out yet?”

He stalks closer to her, hands brushing the opposite side of the console. “Our lives were built on lies: the lies of the Time Lords.”

He’s slowly coming closer, she’s trying to back away without making it obvious. The Doctor hates that it’s her oldest friend making her feel like this. 

“They’d been lying to us for centuries. Neither of us is who we think we are.” The intense look on his face breaks into a slow grin, but his eyes stay blank. “So I burned it. I burned them all, and I watched it burn, just to see the shapes the smoke would make in the wind.”

“That’s all you’ve said. That’s all you’ve _ever_ said. I just want to know _why!_ ” The Doctor balls up her hands and slams them into the console, fully turning to face the Master. She’s shaking slightly, and there’s a tear starting to form in the corner of her eye.

She stands up fully and turns away from him. Just because she’s aware of the Master’s track record of shooting others in the back doesn’t mean she doesn’t want some privacy.

Does that even make any sense? She’s not sure. Stupid emotions and making her thoughts go all... wibbly wobbly.

“You were my friend,” she says, and behind her his footsteps stop.

“You were my friend, and this time I thought you were going to _stay_ that way.” Now that she’s started, ripped the bandage off the feelings she’s kept bottled up for so many years, she finds that the old wounds haven’t stopped bleeding after all.

“You were my _friend_ and I was _happy_ and I thought for once, _just for once, I was going to stay that way._ ” She’s properly crying now, tear tracks streaking her cheeks. “So _why did you do it?_ ” 

“Because I didn’t have a choice!”

She feels his hand touch her shoulder and whips around, his face close enough to hers that her hair whips him in the face as she turns.

“I didn’t have a choice,” he repeats, and now that she’s actually looking at him she can see the tears forming in his eyes.

Funny. It’s only been a decade or so since she last saw the Master cry. Normally it takes longer than that.

“I was trying to hint to you about it. _Doing what I was made to do,_ ring any bells?” Yes, she knows exactly what he means. He’d said that right before forcing her to kneel. “It wasn’t an exaggeration. It’s _literally_ what I was made to do.”

She takes a step away from him, out from under his hand, still outstretched and reaching for her, and searches his eyes for any signs of a lie.

There are none. 

“What do you mean?” she asks, and she hates the way her voice quavers. 

“This is how I was made: to be your opposite.” His voice is tinged by bitterness. “The Time Lords already knew you would be a rebel when you were young. They wanted someone who would keep you on the right path. Then, when that failed, I was their beacon back into the universe. Then, when I failed at even that, when they’d driven me into insanity without so much as a second thought, I went back to the beginning. To being your opposite, to being the champion of Death.” He looks to the side, showing his face in profile. Unknown to the Doctor, he’s trying to hide a tear. “It was easier that way.”

The universe needs to stop throwing her curveballs. Her hearts are beating just a little too fast to be healthy, and it’s starting to feel like there’s a band around her chest constricting her lungs.

Panic attack. She knows the signs, just hasn’t had one in… a _really_ long time. Definitely not this regeneration.

Well, first time for everything. 

She hates this. Hates the way he’s sending her carefully constructed walls crumbling down around her. Hates the fact she can’t run. Hates the fact she wants to. 

He’s still talking. “And you. Of course, they wanted you. Because Time Lord society was starting to fall apart at the seams.” He looks the Doctor straight in the eyes. “They wanted the Other back.”

She knows the myths. Everyone on Gallifrey does (did). The Other: the fabled creator of Time Lord society, finder of the first TARDIS, the man who first gave a Gallifreyan a second heart.

Susan’s real grandfather. Who had thrown himself into the Looms ten million years before the Doctor was even an idea. 

Yeah, she knows about that. Has for millenia. But there were only two others in the universe who knew. She hadn’t even told River. Only Susan andー

“Rassilon.” She finishes the thought out loud. “You spoke to Rassilon.” 

“So you knew.” At some point he’s reached up and wiped the tear track off his face. She’s not blind, though. She saw it. “How long?”

“Always.” At the way his face goes blank she knows she said something wrong. “Not you!... only me.” She can tell by the look in the Master’s eyes that he doesn’t believe her.

Of course. Why would he? She’s never believed him.

No. That was a lie.

The Doctor’s always believed the Master. Even if it’s led to her death.

Her trust typically does that. Somebody’s death, at least. Not always her own.

She can’t hold herself back. He picks his arms up, just slightly, and her arms are around him before he even has a chance to move. He stiffens and stumbles back, but she’s not letting go.

“I missed you,” she says, head buried in his shoulder, and she means it. The way he smells is familiar. It always has been.

Gingerly, he rests his arms on her back. It’s been a long time since the Master has been hugged. It’s been even longer since he was hugged by the Doctor.

“You’re all I have left… I can’t lose you too,” she whispers into his shoulder. 

He knows that’s not true. She has her friends, her TARDIS, the Earth. He’s the one that’s actually alone, other than her.

It doesn’t stop him from hugging her closer.

She tenses suddenly in his arms, as if coming to a realization, pulling back slightly to look into his eyes. “I’m not going to lose you, right? You can stay?”

There’s a tiny quaver in the Master’s voice as he answers her. “Well, I suppose I don’t exactly have any plans….” It’s the closest to an enthusiastic yes that ever comes out of his mouth, especially recently, with all the…. betrayals.

The Doctor detangles her arms from his back, taking a step back from him. “Suppose we should do this properly then.” Without an instant of hesitation, she reaches a hand out to him. “Welcome to the TARDIS.”

He takes it.

_It’s time to stand with the Doctor._

**Author's Note:**

> come talk to me on tumblr: [@sparrowvanya](https://sparrowvanya.tumblr.com/) or [@keeperofthematrix](https://keeperofthematrix.tumblr.com/)


End file.
